Sebastian Coe yesterday insisted London's bid for the 2012 Olympics cannot rest on its laurels, despite a highly-successful visit from the IOC's evaluation commission.
Coe, the bid chairman, said the task of persuading the IOC to vote for London was now the key mission between now and July 6, when the decision is made.
The evaluation commission's visit could not have gone better - a fact hammered home by the leader Nawal El Moutawakel when she made reference to support from the Queen and the Government, to the passion of the British public for sport, and declared the inspectors pleased with the proposals and venues.
The inspectors do not rank the bids, however, and London 2012's network of supporters across the world - some diplomats, some on the payroll, others just backing the bid - will now go into overdrive.
Coe said: ''We cannot even have one or two days of inertia. We have demonstrated to the evaluation commission that we have all the things in place. We have more facilities than they possibly had thought, a good chunk of infrastructure in place, and where we need it, the political commitment at national and city level is clear and unambiguous.
''We now have to underpin all those messages to the broader electorate of the IOC, and not just them but their national Olympic committees, their sponsors and partners, anyone who can impact on that judgement.
''It will be down to personal contact and we have a very good network of people out there, many of them 'under the radar' - the hidden wiring is important here.
''We have a wide network of support in governing bodies of sport, people who have educational interest and anyone who can spread the message around the world. The Foreign and Commonwealth office have been extremely helpful in making sure all those messages are being underpinned.''
Coe plans to visit Brisbane where the Olympic committees of Oceania are meeting, then attend a Commonwealth Games meeting in Melbourne. Further ahead, there is a gathering of African Olympic committees and the Sport Accord conference in Berlin to attend.
The IOC inspectors now head to New York and once they have completed their assessment visits to all five venues - Paris, Madrid and Moscow are the other challengers - they will produce a report in June.
Coe added: ''This is going to be a real tough one. We do have a long time and in any competition you have to be sensitive to the nuances right to last minute.''
As far as the evaluation commission were concerned, Friday night's lavish dinner at Buckingham Palace clearly served its intended purpose.
El Moutawakel opened the commission's only news conference by saying: ''During our stay in London we have been very very pleased to meet the Queen at the Palace and she expressed her full support for the bid of London 2012.
''The bid also demonstrated strong Government support. We met with the Prime Minister Tony Blair, members of the cabinet as well as members of the opposition.
''We were very pleased at the high level of commitment from all the political parties.
''The commission has also been very impressed by the level of involvement of a number of distinguished athletes, including Daley Thompson, Tanni Grey Thompson, Bobby Charlton and many others, the list is long.''
London's bid can hardly have been harmed by the existing friendship between Coe and the impressive El Moutawakel, a Moroccan who was the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal when she won gold in the 400m hurdles in Los Angeles - when Coe also won his second Olympic title.
The pair are both members of the IAAF council and El Moutawakel made no attempt to disguise her admiration, calling him ''my dear colleague'' and saying: ''The bid committee should also be congratulated for the quality of their candidature and the leadership of a great Olympian and good friend Sebastian Coe.''
The evaluation commission always accentuate the positives at the end of these visits but certainly any concerns about political backing and Royal support - after reports the Queen had told a teenager at a reception she expected Paris to win - have been answered.
El Moutawakel also brushed aside a question about the one headache for London this week - mayor Ken Livingstone likening a Jewish newspaper reporter to a concentration camp guard,
She said: ''We are not here to assess that; our role is very clear, to assess technically and report to the IOC.''
She stressed that the commission's visit was designed to produced a technical report and risk analysis and that the commission would not be recommending or ranking any of the five contenders.
El Moutawakel added: ''We have had a very productive visit and we would like to thank the bid committee for hard work, dedication and passion in preparing for our visit.
''We have noticed that the bid provided a catalyst for work between the various authorities.
''We could feel the passion, hear it and see it. They all spoke with passion. It was in every speech and every word.
''We also see that London is committed to improve the transport system and all the documents and guarantees that have been handed to us will be studied to evaluate the bid.''
She did point out, however, that the level of competition between all five bidding cities was ''extremely high''.
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